Teen girl starting stronglifts

Hi everyone,

I just wanted some general advice on how my lifts are progressing after starting stronglifts about 5 weeks ago.

I am at

Squats - 42.5kg after deloading from 57 due to bad form

Over head press - 25kg

Barbell row - 32.5kg

Bench press - using the chest press machine for safety and am on level 6 with 5lbs added for 10x5 before progressing to level 7 for 5x5 which i struggled with upon trying

Deadlift - 60kg

What should I aim for? I am about 51-52kg at the moment and started off very weak.

[QUOTE=modernspartan7;1612282941]Hi everyone,

I just wanted some general advice on how my lifts are progressing after starting stronglifts about 5 weeks ago.

I am at

Squats - 42.5kg after deloading from 57 due to bad form

Over head press - 25kg

Barbell row - 32.5kg

Bench press - using the chest press machine for safety and am on level 6 with 5lbs added for 10x5 before progressing to level 7 for 5x5 which i struggled with upon trying

Deadlift - 60kg

What should I aim for? I am about 51-52kg at the moment and started off very weak.[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm this scares me! You are tiny! Can I ask are you training on your own? Do you have a professional to guide you? Also, if you dont mind me asking how old are you? only reason I ask that is for ligaments, muscle information....

[QUOTE=Bagpuss13;1613684231]Hmmmm this scares me! You are tiny! Can I ask are you training on your own? Do you have a professional to guide you? Also, if you dont mind me asking how old are you? only reason I ask that is for ligaments, muscle information....[/QUOTE]

Is 52kg at 5'4 for a 17 year old really tiny!? I checked my bmi and it is about 19 hence why i wanted to bulk up. In the past few months i have gotten up to 53.3 and all my lifts have gotten better. My family are interested in lifting and various relatives have been able to teach me the basics and form ect.... thanks so much for your help.

My stats at the moment
Squats - 55kg - very unproportional and my weakest lift
Overhead press - 27.5kg
Bench press on level 7 on the machine about 32kg 70lbs
Deadlift - 72.5kg
Rows - 32.5kg

Ah okay....now this makes more sense... One thing I will say is you may want to go by your RMR rather than your BMI especially as you start to gain muscle as it can skew the results you get...If you work of your RMR this will give you q good solid base to work from in order to help you bulk effectively and safely :)
The only one that leaps out at me as a bit odd is your overhead press...thats a lot of weight to shift... Im guessing thats barbell? Is this strict press, zero momentum, straight wrists?? If so then Im impressed lol.....
The others look good, I agree the squat weight looks a little low....Do you have a theory as to why this is your weakest lift?

[QUOTE=Bagpuss13;1615739861]Ah okay....now this makes more sense... One thing I will say is you may want to go by your RMR rather than your BMI especially as you start to gain muscle as it can skew the results you get...If you work of your RMR this will give you q good solid base to work from in order to help you bulk effectively and safely :)
The only one that leaps out at me as a bit odd is your overhead press...thats a lot of weight to shift... Im guessing thats barbell? Is this strict press, zero momentum, straight wrists?? If so then Im impressed lol.....
The others look good, I agree the squat weight looks a little low....Do you have a theory as to why this is your weakest lift?[/QUOTE]

Okay thanks so much. So so far i have been gaining about 0.4kg a week, however i noticed that my arms and legs are still disproportionally skinny. I am very close to that goal weight of about 54/55/56kg but is there anything i can do to help with this. I guess you can’t really target where you gain the weight but i am doing all the compound lifts.

Yes i was shocked i was able to do it but i have been working hard on it and my shoulders have always been my strong point. No momentum and i’ve been making videos of my form and everything looks good.

I think i’m scared of failing and i’m not going deep enough. I went higher but wasn’t going deep so deloaded. Any advice for squats... i always seem to mentally need to prepare myself for them and am scared to increase weight lol.

[QUOTE=modernspartan7;1615807731]Okay thanks so much. So so far i have been gaining about 0.4kg a week, however i noticed that my arms and legs are still disproportionally skinny. I am very close to that goal weight of about 54/55/56kg but is there anything i can do to help with this. I guess you can’t really target where you gain the weight but i am doing all the compound lifts.

Yes i was shocked i was able to do it but i have been working hard on it and my shoulders have always been my strong point. No momentum and i’ve been making videos of my form and everything looks good.

I think i’m scared of failing and i’m not going deep enough. I went higher but wasn’t going deep so deloaded. Any advice for squats... i always seem to mentally need to prepare myself for them and am scared to increase weight lol.[/QUOTE]

You are right, unfortunately you cant target where the weight goes you can just bulk and cut....the calculators on here are really helpful if you want to just check you are intaking the right amount of macros especially the protein to help build the muscle and bulk up your arms and legs...I found tbh it just takes time. I can go months without anything feeling like is happening then all of a sudden Im like "ooh I own muscle" lol

I totally get the squat fear.... do you have access to a smith machine? This will help you feel more secure...you are absolutely right to deload if you arent comfortable, Ive lost count of how many times ive backed off to correct my form and gain confidence back in the movement.....also I always go parallell on my squat not ass to grass...this for me anyway, engages my quads so much more and I feel more stable so I will hold for literally 2 seconds at paralell before coming up out the move...this may help you to gain some initial strength and build the muscle to help you if you want to go lower and have the power to get out of the hole although I have never felt the need but thats personal preference....
You could always try a box behind you too or a chair just so you mentally know you have something behind you...it may just help you to get over that fear.
You may also want to just double check your ankles, sometimes not having the movement through the ankle can make you feel almost off balance when you squat..it just makes the move feel wrong somehow, like your going to fall.... I always use a wall if you stand almost in a lunge...put your front foot against the wall and try and get your knee to touch the wall without lifting either feet from the ground...if you cant then thats a stretch you may want to work on as it will help your squat..you can then move your front foot away from the wall a bit and go again.

You sound as though you have your head screwed on the right way so just be patient with yourself, youre doing great!, you are obviously working hard and you have the main compound movements nailed ( just the squat to master lol) Just make sure your getting the right nutrition and try and get a whack of protein into your system within an hour after training...it will all come together...

Good luck!

[QUOTE=modernspartan7;1615807731]Okay thanks so much. So so far i have been gaining about 0.4kg a week, however i noticed that my arms and legs are still disproportionally skinny. I am very close to that goal weight of about 54/55/56kg but is there anything i can do to help with this. I guess you can’t really target where you gain the weight but i am doing all the compound lifts.

Yes i was shocked i was able to do it but i have been working hard on it and my shoulders have always been my strong point. No momentum and i’ve been making videos of my form and everything looks good.

I think i’m scared of failing and i’m not going deep enough. I went higher but wasn’t going deep so deloaded. Any advice for squats... i always seem to mentally need to prepare myself for them and am scared to increase weight lol.[/QUOTE]

Don't be afraid to stay at a weight and get comfortable.
Beginner programs often force progressive overload, mostly because beginners can get away with it, but if you feel like technique has fallen to far just stick with the weight or take a slight drop and work there for a bit.

You don't have to take big deloads either, it's fine to just try a hard weight again.

Squats are just hard, need big air and brace and good tightness.. something I often need to remind myself :D

[QUOTE=modernspartan7;1612282941]Hi everyone,

I just wanted some general advice on how my lifts are progressing after starting stronglifts about 5 weeks ago.

I am at

Squats - 42.5kg after deloading from 57 due to bad form

Over head press - 25kg

Barbell row - 32.5kg

Bench press - using the chest press machine for safety and am on level 6 with 5lbs added for 10x5 before progressing to level 7 for 5x5 which i struggled with upon trying

Deadlift - 60kg

What should I aim for? I am about 51-52kg at the moment and started off very weak.[/QUOTE]

Impressive! Good progress. I remembered the first time I went to the gym when I was 63kg I can only do 15kg over head press lol